Ready for Internet Rehab? Majority of Americans Addicted to Web

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Here's the good news — sort of. If you're already addicted to
cigarettes or drinking, you're less likely to be addicted to the
Internet, a new public opinion poll shows. But the bad news is
that 61 percent of us still feel like we're addicted to the
Internet.

But for those who feel they are too wed to the Web, this is where
denial kicks in: 39 percent of people who said they were addicted
to the Internet said they could quit if they wanted to, according
to a new poll on Sodahead.com, an online opinion-based
social community.

Internet addiction has actually been recognized as a "clinical
disorder" since 1996, when a study on it was published in the
journal Cyberpsychology and Behavior, the folks at Sodahead.com
said.

Though some studies have shown that Internet addiction can have
as powerful a hold on people as
substance abuse, voters in the poll who admitted to using
other substances were less likely to claim Internet addiction.
Only 48 percent of smokers said they were also addicted to the
Internet while 65 percent of their nicotine-free brethren owned
up to digital dependency.

But there appeared to be a stronger link between drinking and an
Internet addiction than there is for smoking, according to the
poll. While 64 percent of teetotalers claimed to be addicted to
the Web — roughly the same percentage as for nonsmokers claiming
Internet addiction —nearly as many (57 percent) drinkers
confessed to dual addictions.

Internet addiction is far from being a boys' club, the poll
shows. In fact, female respondents were more likely to feel
addicted (64 percent) than males (55 percent).